March 1916

In March 1916, Pancho Villa and his bandits cross the border and attack a town in the United States, burning buildings and killing Americans before being driven back into Mexico.  President Wilson, who has appointed a new Secretary of War, sends Brigadier General John J. Pershing on a punitive expedition into Mexico to capture Villa.  The Mexican government objects to this violation of its territory.  In Washington, presidential opposition defeats a Congressional resolution warning Americans not to travel on ships of nations at war.  Back from Europe, Colonel House confers with President Wilson, who endorses the House-Grey Memorandum.  The British response is not encouraging.  From his vacation in Trinidad, former President Roosevelt issues a statement denying any interest in the 1916 presidential campaign, a statement that is widely interpreted as a declaration of candidacy.  The submarine issue surfaces again when a German U-boat attacks a ferry in the English Channel, injuring four Americans; the United States considers its response.  On leave from the front, Winston Churchill returns to England and speaks in the House of Commons, but his critique of British naval policy is not well received.  Elsewhere on the Continent the war continues.  The German attack on Verdun increases in intensity as the Allies mount simultaneous offensives: by the Russians in the Caucasus and White Russia (now Belarus), and by the Italians on the Isonzo.  In Mesopotamia the British make another attempt to relieve the besieged garrison at Kut Al Amara.  General Gallieni resigns as French Minister of War.  Yuan Shih-Kai abandons the idea of a Chinese empire with himself as emperor.

*****

 Columbus, New Mexico, After the Attack

The recognition of the Carranza government last year by the United States and the ABC powers (Argentina, Brazil, Chile) has not brought an end to civil strife in Mexico.  Carranza's bitterest foe, Francisco ("Pancho") Villa, controls large parts of northern Mexico and is now directing his violence against the United States as well as the government in Mexico City.  In January Villa and his followers attacked a train in Mexico and murdered all but one of the Americans on board in cold blood after forcing them to line up beside the track (one escaped by dashing into the desert before the shooting started).  On March 9 Villa took his terrorism a step further by leading a band of "Villistas" into United States territory, attacking the border town of Columbus, New Mexico.  Buildings were set afire and several Americans killed before the Thirteenth Cavalry Regiment under the command of Colonel Herbert Slocum drove the attackers back across the border, pursuing them some fifteen miles into Mexico.

Newton D. Baker

On the same day as Villa's raid, President Wilson appointed a new Secretary of War, Ohio attorney Newton D. Baker, to replace Lindley Garrison, who resigned last month.  Baker's selection was something of a surprise.  A progressive former Mayor of Cleveland, the new Secretary is considered a pacifist and thus an unlikely choice to lead the nation's military.  He is, however, a political ally of the president, and his pacifism makes him acceptable to substantial elements of both parties in Congress.  Considered as a possible running mate for Wilson at the 1912 Democratic Convention in Baltimore, after the election he turned down an offer to join the Wilson administration as Secretary of the Interior.  At age 44, he is the youngest member of the Cabinet.

Going After Pancho Villa

Ironically, the first order of business of the new pacifist Secretary of War is an invasion of Mexico.  On March 15, after minimal consultation with the Carranza government, American troops under the command of Brigadier General John J. Pershing crossed the border in pursuit of Pancho Villa.  This has, of course, led to diplomatic complications.  At first it appeared that Carranza would acquiesce as long as Mexican troops were given the same privilege (admittedly theoretical) to pursue Villa into the United States.  On March 25 President Wilson issued a statement that "the expedition into Mexico was ordered under an agreement with the de facto government of Mexico for the single purpose of taking the bandit Villa, . . . and is in no sense intended as an invasion of that republic or as an infringement of its sovereignty."  Carranza's position hardened following reports that some elements of the Mexican Army were joining forces with Villa, and his government lodged a formal protest against the presence of American troops on Mexican soil.  On March 29, however, Carranza gave permission for the use of Mexican railroads to supply Pershing's forces.

Senator Stone

Last month Representative A.J. McLemore (Dem., Tex.) introduced a resolution requesting the president to warn Americans against traveling as passengers on ships of nations at war.  After an exchange of letters between the President and Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman William J. Stone (Dem., Mo.), the measure lost support and appeared destined for a quiet death (see last month's installment of this blog).  President Wilson, however, insisted that it be brought to a vote in order to clear up any misunderstanding in other parts of the world about American policy.  On March 7, by a vote of 276 to 142, the House voted to table the McLemore resolution.  Earlier the Senate, following a confusing series of parliamentary maneuvers, voted to table a substitute resolution, offered by Senator Thomas P. Gore (Dem., Okla.), that raised the same issue in the form of a statement of hypothetical circumstances under which the United States would declare war, which Senator Gore argued was the practical effect of the President's announced policy.  Senator Gore voted against his own resolution.

 President and Mrs. Wilson and Colonel House

After two months in Europe Colonel House returned to the United States on March 5, landing in New York and proceeding directly to Washington by train.  The next day he joined President Wilson and the new first lady for lunch, followed by a two-hour automobile ride through Washington during which he outlined the results of his European mission.  On the way back he was dropped off at the State Department, where he met with Secretary of State Lansing.  Then he went next door to the White House and showed the House-Grey Memorandum to the president.  Wilson gave the Memorandum, and House's report as a whole, his full approval.  He authorized a telegram to Sir Edward Grey ratifying the Memorandum, only adding the word "probably" after "would" and before the words "leave the conference" in the second paragraph (see last month's installment of this blog).  This applies the same qualification to a German refusal to agree to terms "not unfavorable to the Allies" that already existed with respect to a German refusal to participate in a proposed conference in the first place.  All of this is hypothetical, of course, and hedged with conditions in addition to the "probablies," such as the statement that nothing can be done without the Allies' approval.  In diplomatic if not military terms, however, it aligns the United States firmly on the side of the Allies, albeit with the United States itself in the role of mediator.

Meanwhile, back in Westminster, the War Committee of the British Cabinet met on March 21.  The House-Grey Memorandum was the last item on the agenda, and after discussing House's proposal the Committee decided not to adopt it, at least for the present.  In his response to House on March 24, Grey said he could not present his proposal to the other Allies without clearing it first with the French.  He said he and Asquith were planning to meet the French Premier in Paris on March 30, at which time the Premier would have an opportunity to share his views.  The meeting took place as scheduled, but the subject did not come up.  For the time being at least, the idea of a peace conference hosted by the United States appears to be dead.

Roosevelt with American Oil Workers in Trinidad

Former President Roosevelt and his wife ended their Caribbean cruise on March 9 in Trinidad.  While there, Roosevelt visited resident Americans and engaged in birding and cave exploration.  Before leaving, he issued a statement in response to press reports that his supporters were planning to enter his name in the upcoming Massachusetts Republican primary as a candidate for president.  His statement says he does not want the nomination and requests that his name not be entered in the Massachusetts primary or that of any other state.  "I will not enter into any fight for the nomination and I will not permit any factional fight to be made in my behalf.  Indeed, I will go further and say that it would be a mistake to nominate me unless the country has in its mood something of the heroic -- unless it feels not only devotion to ideals but the purpose measurably to realize those ideals in action."  The statement goes on to express "disgust with the unmanly character of the present administration," and says the American people should not be "content merely to change the present administration for one equally timid, equally vacillating, equally lacking in vision, in moral integrity and in high resolve."  It says "the delegates who go to Chicago" should be "men of rugged independence, . . . controlled by no man and no interest and their minds should be open."  On his return voyage to New York, Roosevelt's ship encountered an Atlantic storm which had him up one night at two o'clock in the morning bailing seawater out of his stateroom with a bucket.  He arrived in New York on March 25, where he met with reporters but refused to comment on his statement except to say that he meant every word he said.

American political leaders are unanimous in their understanding that, with the Trinidad Statement, Roosevelt has joined the race for the 1916 presidential campaign.

 The Sussex in Boulogne After Being Torpedoed

The issue of German submarine warfare resurfaced before the month was over.  In the latter half of March German submarines torpedoed several unarmed ships.  One was the Sussex, a channel steamer en route from Folkestone to Dieppe with 380 passengers, including twenty-five Americans, four of whom were injured in the attack.  Although its bow was blown off and several passengers were killed, the Sussex did not sink, and what remained of the vessel was towed into Boulogne.  These attacks are in apparent violation of Germany's "Arabic Pledge" to the United States last year, but President Wilson is reluctant to sever diplomatic relations, which he regards as a prelude to war.  He is in consultation with Secretary Lansing and Colonel House, and so far has not decided on the appropriate course of action.

Arthur Balfour with Churchill Last Year

When his battalion rotated out of the trenches on March 2, Churchill returned to England, leaving his battalion in the care of his second in command Sir Archibald Sinclair.  On March 7, still a member of Parliament though no longer in the government, he rose in the House of Commons to take part in the debate on the Naval Estimates introduced by Arthur Balfour, the former Conservative Prime Minister and Churchill's successor as First Lord of the Admiralty.  In a 40-minute speech, Churchill offered a defense of his own record as First Lord and trenchant criticisms of the performance of the current administration of the Admiralty.  The effect of his speech, however, was severely diminished by its conclusion, in which he urged that former First Sea Lord Jackie Fisher be recalled to his post.  This suggestion was met with derision, given Lord Fisher's role in last year's disastrous Dardanelles expedition and the mutual recriminations between Churchill and Fisher that ensued.  Any hope Churchill may have entertained for a return to political power seems to have been dashed, at least for the time being.  On March 13 he crossed the channel and rejoined his battalion at Ploegsteert.

General Gallieni

Intense fighting raged all month between Fort Douaumont and Fort Vaux, north of Verdun.  Fort Douaumont was captured by the Germans shortly after the assault began last month.  Fort Vaux remains in French hands, but the village of Vaux has changed hands thirteen times, most recently at the end of March when it was occupied again by German troops.  On March 6, in an attempt to silence French artillery positioned on high ground across the river, German forces crossed the Meuse at Brabant and Champneuville and attacked the French positions on the heights of the Cote de l'Oie and the nearby hill of le Mort-Homme.  So far, however, the German attempts to drive the French from the heights have been unsuccessful.

The Commander-in-Chief of the French Army, General Joseph Joffre, and the Minister of War, General Joseph Gallieni, have a history of professional rivalry, and their relationship has worsened since the war began due to disputes over their respective areas of authority.  The French reverses at Verdun, in particular the ease with which the German Army captured Fort Douaumont, have brought matters to a head.  This, combined with Gallieni's failing health, led to his resignation as Minister of War on March 16.  His successor is General Pierre Roques.

France's allies mounted offensive operations this month intended to relieve the German pressure on Verdun.  On March 11 Italy renewed its offensive against Austro-Hungarian forces on the Isonzo River, but were driven back by rain and snow in the mountains and by an Austrian gas attack.  On the Eastern Front, a Russian offensive against the Germans at Lake Naroch in White Russia, preceded by a two-day artillery bombardment, made modest gains, as did Russian operations against Turkey in the Caucasus.  In Mesopotamia, the Ottoman siege of the British garrison at Kut Al Amara continued as additional Turkish troops transferred from Gallipoli helped turn back another attempted British breakthrough at Dujaila on March 7.  On March 27, as preparations continued for a major offensive on the Somme, British forces on the southern edge of the Ypres salient launched an attack on German positions at St. Eloi by exploding underground mines.

 Yuan Shih-Kai

Yuan Shih-Kai's declaration in December reviving the Chinese Empire has backfired badly.  Not only have foreign governments refused to recognize the new regime, but rebellions have broken out in province after province in China, supported by former President Sun Yat-Sen from his exile in Tokyo.  On March 22, after several postponements of his formal investiture, Yuan Shih-Kai formally abandoned the Empire and his title of Emperor.  His political enemies are now calling for his resignation as President.

March 1916 – Selected Sources and Recommended Reading

Contemporary Periodicals:

American Review of Reviews, April and May 1916

New York Times, March 1916

Books and Articles:

A. Scott Berg, Wilson

Britain at War Magazine, The Third Year of the Great War: 1916
Winston S. Churchill, The World Crisis 1911-1918
John Milton Cooper, Jr., Woodrow Wilson: A Biography
John Milton Cooper, Jr., The Warrior and the Priest: Woodrow Wilson and Theodore Roosevelt

Patrick Devlin, Too Proud to Fight: Woodrow Wilson's Neutrality

John Dos Passos, Mr. Wilson's War

David Fromkin, A Peace to End All Peace: Creating the Modern Middle East, 1914-1922

Martin Gilbert, Churchill: A Life
Martin Gilbert, The First World War: A Complete History

Martin Gilbert, A History of the Twentieth Century, Volume One: 1900-1933
Martin Gilbert, Winston S. Churchill Volume III: The Challenge of War, 1914-1916

Richard F. Hamilton and Holger H. Herwig, Decisions for War, 1914-1917

August Heckscher, Woodrow Wilson: A Biography

Godfrey Hodgson, Woodrow Wilson's Right Hand: The Life of Colonel Edward M. House

Paul Jankowski, Verdun: The Longest Battle of the Great War

Keith Jeffrey, 1916: A Global History

Roy Jenkins, Churchill: A Biography
John Keegan, The First World War
Nicholas A. Lambert, Planning Armageddon: British Economic Warfare and the First World War

Arthur S. Link, Wilson: Confusions and Crises, 1915-1916 

Arthur S. Link, Woodrow Wilson and the Progressive Era, 1910-1917

G.J. Meyer, A World Undone: The Story of the Great War, 1914 to 1918

J. Lee Thompson, Never Call Retreat: Theodore Roosevelt and the Great War

Barbara W. Tuchman, The Zimmermann Telegram   
Geoffrey C. Ward and Ken Burns, The Roosevelts: An Intimate History

The West Point Atlas of War: World War I

February 1916

It's February 1916.  The war in Europe shows no signs of abating.  As negotiations over the sinking of the Lusitania come perilously close to a breach in relations with Germany, President Woodrow Wilson is embarked on a speaking tour through the Midwest to sell his "preparedness" program.  Pacifists and isolationists are opposed, but his audiences are mostly receptive to his message.  His message is not strong enough, however, for his Secretary of War, who resigns.  Having assured his audiences that his program is meant to ensure peace, not prepare for war, the president puts the brakes on the slide toward a break in relations with Germany; but just as an acceptable formula appears to have been found, Germany announces a new aggressive submarine policy.  As Congress is about to adopt measures to prevent Americans from traveling on belligerent ships, the president heads it off with a letter stoutly defending American rights.  Meanwhile Colonel House ends his tour of European capitals in London by signing on to a memorandum written by the British Foreign Secretary that might or might not commit the United States to entering the war on the side of the Allies.  On the battlefield, the German Army commences a massive assault on the French city of Verdun and surrounding forts.  Winston Churchill is on the Western Front with his Aide de Camp Sir Archibald Sinclair, who will become his Secretary of State for Air in the Second World War and later be elevated to the peerage as Viscount Thurso.  (After the 1999 House of Lords reforms, Lord Thurso's grandson, the third viscount, will become the first peer to be elected to the House of Commons.)  In Ottawa the Canadian Parliament building is destroyed by fire.  In this presidential election year in the United States, no one has announced his (or her) candidacy for the office, but President Wilson gives permission for the use of his name in the Ohio Democratic primary.  His eventual opponent, Supreme Court Justice Charles Evans Hughes, writes a letter opposing any use of his name in connection with the nominating process.

*****

Convention Hall in Kansas City

The beginning of February found President Wilson in the midst of his Preparedness Tour through the Midwestern United States.  Traveling from Milwaukee to Des Moines on February 1, he made brief speeches at stops in Joliet, Rock Island, Davenport and Iowa City.  That evening he gave a major address at the Coliseum in Des Moines, a Republican stronghold with strong isolationist sympathies.  He told the friendly audience of 10,000, said to be the largest crowd ever assembled in that city, that while he had worked tirelessly to keep America out of the war, and that while America was at peace with the world and faced no immediate danger of international crises, he was sure Americans did not wish to maintain "peace at the expense of the honor of the United States."  The next day in Topeka, he faced a less receptive audience of Kansas farmers, but that evening in Kansas City a crowd of 18,000, the largest and most enthusiastic of his trip, packed Convention Hall and cheered his message urging America to be prepared to play its part in "the redemption of the affairs of mankind."  Arguing for a greatly expanded navy, he told them "the flame from a world on fire" threatens to "creep in from both coasts," and pointed out that in the Pacific alone "the sweep of the coast from the canal to Alaska ... is nearly one fourth the circumference of the earth."  He said "there is not a day to be lost, for the peace of the United States does not depend on what I can do; it depends on what the commander of some ship at sea does, or the commander of some submarine, or those in charge of a blockade" and "America must see that we are ready to defend our rights."  The President ended his tour the following evening in St. Louis, a city with a large German-American population, where he told a friendly audience in the Coliseum that his goal was to defend American neutrality by strengthening the army and building "incomparably the greatest navy in the world."  He returned to Washington on February 4, refreshed and invigorated by his reception in a part of the country known for its Republican leanings and isolationist sympathies.

Lindley Garrison

Secretary of War Lindley Garrison has been a voice within the administration for a more aggressive military posture, both in urging more use of the military in Mexico and in advocating measures to increase the nation's military strength in light of the war in Europe.  Though both he and the president supported an increase in military spending, Garrison was a strong and insistent advocate of a "Continental Army" plan to increase the standing army to 400,000 men.  Garrison's plan encountered Congressional opposition, which preferred an expanded role for the State National Guards.  President Wilson's refusal to push Congress to adopt Garrison's Continental Army plan led to his resignation, along with that of Assistant Secretary of War Henry Breckinridge, on February 10.  Army Chief of Staff General Hugh Scott is serving as acting Secretary of War until a replacement is appointed and confirmed.

Secretary of State Robert Lansing

Throughout his preparedness tour, President Wilson emphasized that there was no immediate crisis, that the United States is at peace with the world, and that his constant goal is to keep America out of the war.  The success of the tour rested largely on the President's assurances that he sought military strength to keep the United States out of the war, not to take aggressive action that might involve it in hostilities.  Meanwhile, however, back in Washington, Secretary of State Lansing with the President's approval was pursuing a hard line against Germany over the sinking of the Lusitania, insisting on an admission of liability and reparations for the deaths of American citizens.  By the end of January, negotiations in Washington and Berlin had reached an impasse, with the German government rejecting Lansing's final demands.  A break in diplomatic relations seemed imminent.  When President Wilson was advised by telegram of the state of negotiations as he was on his way back to Washington, he instructed Lansing to take no further action until his return.  Back at the White House on February 8, in a meeting with Lansing and the rest of the Cabinet, language was agreed upon that represented a retreat from the United States' previous position, and that appeared to satisfy both President Wilson and the German government.  Just as the Lusitania crisis appeared to be approaching resolution, however, Germany announced on February 10 that, beginning February 29, its submarines would treat all armed merchant ships as auxiliary cruisers, subject to being sunk without warning.  This announcement has made resolution of the Lusitania issue impossible for the present.  Attention has now shifted from the choice of words to be used in diplomatic notes regarding past grievances to the broader issue of how decisions regarding the arming of merchant ships will affect future policy.

Armed merchant ships have been central to the diplomatic controversy over submarine warfare.  On the one hand, traditional international law requires that warships intercepting merchant ships obey "cruiser rules," which provide that the warship may not attack or sink the merchant ship, unless it resists or tries to evade capture, without first removing the crew and passengers to a place of safety (at least to lifeboats).  On the other hand, a merchant ship armed with a deck gun (sometimes concealed) is quite capable of attacking and sinking any submarine that surfaces within range; indeed, in that circumstance the submarine is at a decided disadvantage.  Last month Secretary Lansing proposed a modus vivendi, under which merchant ships would not be allowed to carry armament and in return German submarines would be required to follow cruiser rules.  This proposal was promptly rejected by Great Britain, and was never officially submitted to Germany.  Its announcement, however, had the unfortunate effect of laying a foundation for the German announcement of February 10:  If merchant ships were to be prohibited from carrying guns, why would German submarines not be justified in attacking any merchant ships they thought were armed?  Lansing has been forced to tell the German ambassador that, because his proposed modus vivendi was not acceptable to Great Britain, it should no longer be considered as a basis for discussion or as a justification for Germany's February 10 announcement.  The appearance that the two might be connected, meanwhile, has torpedoed for now the proposed Lusitania settlement.

Senator Gore

Representative McLemore

Among the factors affecting the Lusitania negotiations and the armed merchant ship issue has been the attitude of Congress.  Since it convened in December, the mood on Capitol Hill has shifted decisively against any policy threatening a rupture in relations with Germany and toward taking a firmer stand against Great Britain regarding its blockade policies.  On February 17, Representative A.J. McLemore (Dem., Tex.) introduced a resolution requesting that the president warn American citizens not to travel on armed merchant vessels.  This caused Senator Thomas Gore (Dem., Okla.) to begin a push to bring to the floor a bill he introduced in January that would prohibit the issuance of passports to Americans traveling on belligerent ships and also prohibit neutral ships from carrying American citizens as passengers while carrying contraband.  On February 21, Senator William J. Stone (D., Mo.), chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee, accompanied by Senate Majority Leader John W. Kern (D., Ind.) and Representative Hal D. Flood (D., Va.), Chairman of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, called on President Wilson to ascertain the administration's view.  The president's answer, that he was determined to defend the right of Americans to travel on defensively armed merchant ships, set off a rebellion in Congress.

On February 24, with passage of the Gore and McLemore measures appearing increasingly likely, Senator Stone wrote a letter to the president in which he said that, while he was "striving to prevent anything being done by any Senator or Member calculated to embarrass your diplomatic negotiations," he would "find it difficult from my sense of duty and responsibility to consent to plunge this nation into the vortex of this world war because of the unreasonable obstinacy of any of the Powers on the one hand, or, on the other hand, of fool-hardiness, amounting to a sort of moral treason against the Republic, of our own people recklessly risking their lives on armed belligerent ships."  Seeing an opportunity to defuse the domestic crisis with a strong statement for public consumption, President Wilson immediately replied to Senator Stone and released both letters to the press.  He refused to back down, saying that while "I shall do everything in my power to keep the United States out of war, ... I cannot consent to any abridgement of the rights of American citizens in any respect.  The honor and self-respect of the nation is involved.  We covet peace, and shall preserve it at any cost but the loss of honor.  To forbid our people to exercise their rights for fear we might be called upon to vindicate them would be a deep humiliation indeed."  Release of the letters has had the desired effect: Congressional opposition to the president's policy appears to have collapsed.  On February 29, seeking to remove any doubt in foreign capitals about American policy, President Wilson sent a letter to the acting chairman of the House Rules Committee demanding that the McLemore resolution be brought to the floor for a vote, which he is confident will result in its defeat.

Colonel House

The Lusitania negotiations and related discussions about armed merchant ships took place in Washington between Secretary of State Lansing and German Ambassador Bernstorff, and simultaneously in Berlin between American Ambassador James Gerard and Deputy Foreign Minister Arthur Zimmermann.  President Wilson's private emissary Colonel House was in Europe throughout the negotiations, and was instrumental in persuading the president to avoid a break with Germany over the wording of the Lusitania notes.  He left Berlin at the end of January and arrived in Paris on February 1.  There he met with Foreign Minister Jules Cambon and Prime Minister Aristide Briand, then proceeded to London, where he met over the next several days with Prime Minister Asquith, Foreign Minister Grey and others, continuing to promote the idea of a peace conference to be called by President Wilson.  To make it acceptable to the Allies, he assured the French and British that the United States would endeavor to bring about a settlement favorable to them.  On February 22, House and Grey agreed on the content of a memorandum, drafted and signed by Grey, which stated as follows:

"Colonel House told me that President Wilson was ready, on hearing from France and England that the moment was opportune, to propose that a Conference should be summoned to put an end to the war.  Should the Allies accept this proposal, and should Germany refuse it, the United States would probably enter the war against Germany.

"Colonel House expressed the opinion that, if such a Conference met, it would secure peace on terms not unfavorable to the Allies, and, if it failed to secure peace, the United States would leave the conference as a belligerent on the side of the Allies, if Germany was unreasonable.  Colonel House expressed an opinion decidedly favourable to the restoration of Belgium, the transfer of Alsace and Lorraine to France, and the acquisition by Russia of an outlet to the sea . . . .

"I said that I felt the statement, coming from the President of the United States, to be a matter of such importance that I should inform the Prime Minister and my colleagues; but that I could say nothing until it had received their consideration.  The British Government could, under no circumstances, accept or make any proposal except in consultation and agreement with the Allies. . . ."

The House-Grey Memorandum has not been made public, and probably will not be.  If it were, it would inevitably reignite this month's Congressional controversy, since it is difficult to reconcile its contents with President Wilson's letter to Senator Stone, sent two days later, in which he insists he is doing everything in his power to avoid war.  In addition, it is inconsistent with the public reason given for Colonel House's trip (only to brief ambassadors), and disregards House's original understanding with the president that he would avoid expressing any opinion on specific territorial issues and would suggest only the convening of a conference, not the United States' actual entry into the war.

Having completed his mission in Europe, Colonel House boarded the SS Rotterdam in Falmouth on February 25 for his return voyage to New York.

Fort Douaumont Before the Battle

On February 21 the German Fifth Army, under the command of Crown Prince Wilhelm, began a major attack on Verdun, a French city occupying a strategic position on the Meuse River.  The offensive began with a 9-hour artillery bombardment.  850 heavy guns pounded the city and its surrounding fortresses along an eight mile front.  The artillery barrage was followed by an infantry advance that resulted in the capture of Fort Douaumont, a formidable fortification northeast of the city that had been stripped of much of its artillery and defenders, on February 25.  On the same day the defense of Verdun was assigned to the French Second Army, under the command of General Philippe Petain.  Almost surrounded by the German army and with all but a single small rail line cut off, Verdun is relying for reinforcements and supplies on truck convoys using a single road from Bar-le-Duc, which the French Army has closed to non-military traffic.  Military guards patrol every mile of it, maintenance workers are on constant duty, and the departure of truck convoys is strictly regulated to minimize traffic delays.

 

Churchill and Sinclair in Armentieres

Farther north, the Western Front has been relatively quiet, but plans are under way by the French and British high commands for a major summer offensive on the Somme.  Former British First Lord of the Admiralty Winston Churchill spent the month with his new infantry battalion in Belgium.  On February 10 he went with his aide de camp Major Sir Archibald Sinclair and his division commander General Sir Henry Tudor to observe a British artillery bombardment near Ploegsteert Wood.  The next day he and Sinclair crossed the border to Armentieres, where they had their photograph taken before returning to the front.

 The Canadian Parliament Building Afire

Parliaments on both sides of the Atlantic were in the news this month.  The Canadian Parliament Building in Ottawa was destroyed by fire on February 3.  In Westminster, Prime Minister Asquith told the British House of Commons that additional war taxes would be necessary to fund ongoing war costs of $25 million a day.  On February 16, Great Britain, France and Italy renewed their pledge to continue the war until the independence of Belgium is reestablished.

The Supreme Court Before Justice Lamar's Death Last Month

(Justice Hughes Front Row Extreme Right; Justice Lamar Second from the Right in the Back Row)

In the United States, this is a presidential election year.  Some leading Republicans would like to see their party nominate Supreme Court Justice and former New York Governor Charles Evans Hughes.  Representative C. Bascom Slemp, the only Republican member of Congress from Virginia, wrote to Justice Hughes informing him of a "Hughes boom" started in the state by Frank Hitchcock, a former Postmaster General and chairman of the Republican National Committee.  In a letter made public on February 9, Justice Hughes tried to put an end to Hitchcock's efforts.  He wrote, "I am entirely out of politics and I know nothing whatever of the matters to which you refer."  He added, "I am entirely opposed to the use of my name in connection with the nomination and selection or instruction of any delegates in my interest, either directly or indirectly."

On the Democratic side, President Wilson has allowed himself to be put forward as a candidate for the nomination while making a show of reluctance.  In a February 14 letter to the Ohio Secretary of State, he said was being sent only to "satisfy the technical requirements of the statutes of the State of Ohio," he wrote, "While I am entirely unwilling to enter into any contest for the presidential nomination of the Democratic Party, I am willing to permit the use of my name that the Democrats in Ohio may make known their preference in regard to that nomination."  The president's letter made no mention of the Democratic Party's 1912 platform, which pledged to limit presidents to a single term.  It is expected that President Wilson will be nominated easily this year, unlike at the 1912 Baltimore convention in which he trailed for twenty-eight ballots before finally receiving the nomination on the forty-sixth.

Meanwhile, former President Roosevelt, who led the Progressive Party in its split from the Republicans in 1912, is being mentioned as a possible Republican nominee if the 1912 rift can be healed.  He is on holiday with his wife in the Caribbean, and has been quoted as saying that he is "for anybody who can beat Woodrow Wilson."

February 1916 – Selected Sources and Recommended Reading

Contemporary Periodicals:

American Review of Reviews, March and April 1916

New York Times, February 1916

Books and Articles:

A. Scott Berg, Wilson

Britain at War Magazine, The Third Year of the Great War: 1916
Winston S. Churchill, The World Crisis 1911-1918
John Milton Cooper, Jr., Woodrow Wilson: A Biography
John Milton Cooper, Jr., The Warrior and the Priest: Woodrow Wilson and Theodore Roosevelt

Patrick Devlin, Too Proud to Fight: Woodrow Wilson's Neutrality

David Fromkin, A Peace to End All Peace: Creating the Modern Middle East, 1914-1922
Martin Gilbert, The First World War: A Complete History

Martin Gilbert, A History of the Twentieth Century, Volume One: 1900-1933
Martin Gilbert, Winston S. Churchill Volume III: The Challenge of War, 1914-1916

Richard F. Hamilton and Holger H. Herwig, Decisions for War, 1914-1917

Peter Hart, Gallipoli

August Heckscher, Woodrow Wilson: A Biography

Godfrey Hodgson, Woodrow Wilson's Right Hand: The Life of Colonel Edward M. House

Paul Jankowski, Verdun: The Longest Battle of the Great War

Keith Jeffrey, 1916: A Global History
John Keegan, The First World War
Nicholas A. Lambert, Planning Armageddon: British Economic Warfare and the First World War

Arthur S. Link, Wilson: Confusions and Crises, 1915-1916 

Arthur S. Link, Woodrow Wilson and the Progressive Era, 1910-1917

G.J. Meyer, A World Undone: The Story of the Great War, 1914 to 1918

J. Lee Thompson, Never Call Retreat: Theodore Roosevelt and the Great War

Barbara W. Tuchman, The Zimmermann Telegram   
Geoffrey C. Ward and Ken Burns, The Roosevelts: An Intimate History

January 1916

The first month of the third calendar year of the war finds both sides bitterly resigned to a world war of unprecedented destruction with no end in sight.  The British complete their withdrawal from Gallipoli and find themselves under siege in Mesopotamia with the likelihood of relief diminishing.  Churchill takes command of an infantry battalion on the Western Front as the British Government yields to the necessity of compulsory military  service.  Colonel House spends the month in London, Paris and Berlin, but accomplishes little.  Lusitania negotiations between Germany and the United States reach an impasse.  President Wilson embarks on a preparedness tour of the Midwest.  Former President Roosevelt denounces the administration's foreign policy and calls for a "larger Americanism" that welcomes loyal immigrants.  Pancho Villa's bandits attack a train and kill Americans in Mexico.  Other newsworthy deaths include a former Mexican revolutionary and a Civil War general instrumental in building the transcontinental railroad.  Louis Brandeis is appointed to the Supreme Court.

*****

 W Beach at Cape Helles During the Evacuation

At the end of the year the British War Cabinet decided to complete the evacuation of the Gallipoli Peninsula by withdrawing from Cape Helles.  Unlike the earlier evacuations of Suvla Bay and Anzac Cove, which were carried out stealthily and without alerting the Turks, this time the Turks knew a withdrawal was imminent and attacked the Allied forces.  A vigorous battle ensued,in which the Turks were driven back and held at bay long enough for the Allied forces to carry out a successful evacuation, which was completed on January 8.  As in the earlier withdrawals, the operation was completed with minimal losses.

Also on January 8, the Austro-Hungarian Army, having completed its conquest of Serbia, turned its attention to Montenegro with a 500-gun artillery barrage combined with air and sea attacks.  Cetinje, the capital, fell on January 11, and on January 17 Montenegro surrendered.

Field Marshal von der Goltz

General Townshend's Anglo-Indian forces in Mesopotamia are surrounded at Kut Al Amara, besieged by Turkish troops under the command of German Field Marshal Baron von der Goltz, reinforced by troops recently freed up by the Allied evacuation of Gallipoli.  A British relief column was intercepted by the Turks  at Wadi on January 13 and Hanna on January 21.  At Wadi, the British achieved their objective, but only at the cost of irreplaceable losses.  At Hanna their losses were even greater.  As of the end of January, the relief column has been stopped short of its objective and the siege of Kut Al Amara continues.

 Churchill with General Fayolle (to his left) and a German Prisoner (behind the General)

Winston Churchill is in France, where he has been given a commission as a lieutenant colonel and command of an infantry battalion, the Sixth Royal Scots Fusiliers.  His battalion is part of the Ninth (Scottish) Division commanded by Major General William Furse, which suffered grievous losses at the Battle of Loos in September.  At Churchill's request, Sir Archibald Sinclair has been named his second in command.  After spending most of the month in reserve billets near the town of Meteren, the battalion was assigned to the Ploegsteert sector, where it took its place in the line on January 27.  Prior to his assignment to the Royal Scots Fusiliers, while training with the Grenadier Guards, Churchill was considered for command of a brigade and a promotion to brigadier general, but that plan did not survive the replacement of General French by General Haig and Prime Minister Asquith's concern about negative reaction in the officer corps.  After arriving in France he posed for a photograph with General Emile Fayolle, some other French officers, and a German prisoner.  General Fayolle gave him a French helmet, which he wore for the photograph and decided to keep, considering it superior to the British design.

Back in Westminster, also on January 27, the Military Service Act received Royal Assent and became law.  The Act, introduced by Prime Minister Asquith in the House of Commons on January 5, is Great Britain's first conscription bill.

On the last day of 1915, new honors were conferred by King George V.  Sir John French was elevated to the peerage as Viscount French of Ypres, and in recognition of his support for British charities the wealthy American expatriate William Waldorf Astor became Baron Astor.  Lord Astor's daughter-in-law Nancy Langhorne Astor, also an American, is active in war work among the wounded.

Colonel House

President Wilson's friend and advisor Colonel House spent most of the month in England.  He arrived in Falmouth on January 5 with his wife and secretary and took the overnight train to London, where he met with Foreign Minister Grey the next afternoon.  In the following days he had additional meetings with Grey and other ministers and officials of the British government including First Lord of the Admiralty Arthur Balfour, Minister of Munitions David Lloyd George, and the Lord Chief Justice, Lord Reading.  Lloyd George, in a meeting with Colonel House and Lord Reading on January 14, argued that little in the way of peace initiatives could be done before September, after which the anticipated summer battles will have been fought and the warring nations will have a better idea of where they stand.  He insisted, however, that any peace settlement should include the dismemberment of the Ottoman Empire and the restoration of the Polish nation.  House, consistent with his discussions with Wilson prior to his departure, avoided "local" questions such as territorial settlements and indemnities, instead emphasizing general principles upon which a peace might be based: military and naval disarmament, freedom of the seas, and the establishment of a league of nations to enforce international law and protect nations against aggression.  House left London on January 20, and after a few days hiatus in Paris proceeded by way of Geneva to Berlin, where he arrived on January 26.

House arrived in Berlin at a critical moment in the negotiations between the United States and Germany over the sinking of the Lusitania.  Greeting him on his arrival was a long telegram from Secretary of State Lansing  warning that the German government's refusal to admit liability and offer reparation for the loss of American lives (as opposed to a "friendly indemnity" with no mention of liability) made agreement impossible and threatened a break in diplomatic relations.  At a lunch meeting on January 29, Deputy Foreign Minister Arthur Zimmermann told House and U.S. Ambassador James Gerard that Germany would go no further, and handed them a letter to that effect for transmission to Washington.

The President in Waukegan

President Wilson cut short his honeymoon trip and returned to Washington on January 3 to deal with the potential crisis in relations with Germany caused by the December 30 sinking of the passenger steamer S.S. Persia causing the death of two Americans including the American consul in Aden.  Not long after his return, the Persia incident was sidelined by a lack of conclusive evidence of German culpability and a shift of focus to the renewed Lusitania negotiations.  As those negotiations appeared to reach an impasse, the Democratic leaders of Congress let it be known that they were reluctant to support the administration's insistence on an apology, and renewed their insistence that a stronger stand should be taken against the British blockade policy.  At the end of the month President Wilson, a recent convert to "preparedness," began a "swing around the circle" speaking tour through the middle west, the area most resistant to the preparedness message.  Before embarking on his tour, he spoke on January 27 at a dinner of the Railway Business Association in the Grand Ballroom of the Waldorf Hotel in New York.  He admitted that he had changed his mind on the preparedness issue since his message to Congress in November 1914, saying "I would be ashamed of myself if I had not learned something in [those] fourteen months."  He left Washington the next day, and spoke on January 29 in Pittsburgh and Cleveland, where he argued that it has become "absolutely necessary that this country should prepare herself, not for war, not for anything that smacks in the least of aggression, but for adequate national defense."  He made major speeches to the same effect in Chicago and Milwaukee on January 31, and in addition is delivering brief remarks from the rear platform of his train during stops along the way such as Waukegan, Illinois.  Still ahead as the month draws to a close are stops in Des Moines, Topeka, Kansas City and St. Louis.

Metropolitan, January 1916

The January 1916 issue of Metropolitan Magazine carries an article by former President Roosevelt entitled "The Sins of the Wilson Administration."  Asking the question "America First -- A Phrase or a Fact?", Roosevelt charges that the Administration has "plumed itself on the sentence, 'America First,'" while "in practice it has acted on the theory of  'America Last,' both at home and abroad, both in Mexico and on the high seas."  He blames "this course of national infamy," which he traces back to the Taft administration, on "professional pacifists," who, "through President Wilson, have forced this country into a path of shame and dishonor during the past eighteen months."  He says that while the president has "finally adopted my principle about preparedness, ... he has sought to apply it in a half-hearted and inefficient manner," and that "it is the last note of unpatriotic folly for the pacifists of this country to chatter about peace, when they neither venture to stand up for righteousness nor to fight for real preparedness, so as to enable the United States to insure justice for itself and to demand justice for others."  In a speech at the Philadelphia Opera House on January 20, Roosevelt called for a "larger Americanism," which would welcome every immigrant who comes to America with the desire to be "an American and nothing else," but if any immigrant showed himself to be "at heart more loyal to another land, let him be promptly returned to that land."

The Progressive Party, which Roosevelt led out of the Republican Party in 1912, announced on January 11 that it would hold its 1916 convention in Chicago on June 7, the same city and date announced last month for the Republican convention.   The hope is that they will choose the same nominees.

Pancho Villa

Notwithstanding Roosevelt's criticism, relations with Mexico seem to have become more stable since the United States and the ABC  powers of South America recognized the government of Venustiano Carranza last October.  An incident this month illustrates that sources of tension persist.  On January 10 a band of brigands under the command of Pancho Villa, a rival of Carranza's who controls large parts of  northern Mexico, stopped a train in Chihuahua and shot and killed all but one of the American mining executives on board after robbing them, stripping them of their clothes, and forcing them to stand in a line beside the train.  The lone survivor, Thomas Holmes, escaped by fleeing into the desert.  Secretary of State Lansing has sent a note to the Carranza government demanding the immediate pursuit, capture and punishment of those responsible.  There have been calls in Congress, so far resisted by the president, to send American Army troops into Mexico.

A name from Mexico's turbulent recent past has left the scene. Victoriano Huerta, the Mexican general whose overthrow (and probable murder) of President Francisco Madero in 1913 was an early event in the civil war that continues to the present day, died in El Paso on January 13, shortly after his release from a federal prison.  Huerta seized the presidency shortly after Madero's ouster, but was forced to resign and leave the country in July 1914.  Subsequent scheming with German agents in the United States led to his arrest and detention by American authorities.

 Grenville Dodge (right) at the driving of the Golden Spike

General Grenville Dodge died in Council Bluffs, Iowa on January 3.  In the Civil War General Dodge served in a number of important positions, including as the Union Army's Chief of Intelligence in the West and as commander of a corps in General Sherman's campaign for Atlanta.  After the war he was elected to Congress, where he served one term, and  was named chief engineer of the Union Pacific, a position in which he was instrumental in the construction of the transcontinental railroad.

 Louis Brandeis

Supreme Court Justice Joseph Rucker Lamar, appointed by President Taft to fill the vacancy created by the 1910 promotion of Justice Edward White to Chief Justice, died on January 2.  On January 28, President Wilson made a surprising choice when he sent Louis Brandeis's nomination to the Senate.  Brandeis is best known as a radical trust-busting attorney, and is considered by many to be a socialist.  If confirmed, he will be the first Jew to sit on the Supreme Court.  His nomination is expected to face strong opposition in the Senate.

January 1916 – Selected Sources and Recommended Reading

Contemporary Periodicals:

American Review of Reviews, February and March 1916

Metropolitan Magazine, January 1916 

New York Times, January 1916

Books and Articles:

A. Scott Berg, Wilson

Britain at War Magazine, The Third Year of the Great War: 1916
Winston S. Churchill, The World Crisis 1911-1918
John Milton Cooper, Jr., Woodrow Wilson: A Biography
John Milton Cooper, Jr., The Warrior and the Priest: Woodrow Wilson and Theodore Roosevelt

Patrick Devlin, Too Proud to Fight: Woodrow Wilson's Neutrality

David Fromkin, A Peace to End All Peace: Creating the Modern Middle East, 1914-1922
Martin Gilbert, The First World War: A Complete History

Martin Gilbert, A History of the Twentieth Century, Volume One: 1900-1933
Martin Gilbert, Winston S. Churchill Volume III: The Challenge of War, 1914-1916

Richard F. Hamilton and Holger H. Herwig, Decisions for War, 1914-1917

Peter Hart, Gallipoli

August Heckscher, Woodrow Wilson: A Biography

Godfrey Hodgson, Woodrow Wilson's Right Hand: The Life of Colonel Edward M. House
John Keegan, The First World War
Nicholas A. Lambert, Planning Armageddon: British Economic Warfare and the First World War

Arthur S. Link, Wilson: Confusions and Crises, 1915-1916 

Arthur S. Link, Woodrow Wilson and the Progressive Era, 1910-1917

G.J. Meyer, A World Undone: The Story of the Great War, 1914 to 1918

J. Lee Thompson, Never Call Retreat: Theodore Roosevelt and the Great War

Barbara W. Tuchman, The Zimmermann Telegram   
Geoffrey C. Ward and Ken Burns, The Roosevelts: An Intimate History

December 1915

At the end of 1915, the Allies are on the defensive.  On the Gallipoli Peninsula they conduct a successful evacuation of Anzac Cove and Suvla Bay, while in Mesopotamia they prepare to defend a siege at Kut Al Amara.  On the Western Front, General Haig replaces General French as Commander of the British Expeditionary Force.  In the Mediterranean a German submarine torpedoes and sinks the Pacific & Orient liner Persia, killing two Americans including the American consul in Aden.  A British armored cruiser blows up at its berth in Cromarty Firth.  In his State of the Union message to the opening session of Congress, President Wilson outlines his military preparedness policy, opposes borrowing money to pay the nation's bills, and warns against disloyal Americans.  The president remarries and goes on a honeymoon trip with his new wife.  Colonel House embarks on another diplomatic mission to Europe.  Henry Ford’s “Peace Ship” sails to Europe to stop the war, but the war goes on.

*****

General Sir Charles Monro

Having failed in their attempt to force the Dardanelles with naval forces alone, and then having failed to secure the heights on the Gallipoli Peninsula that overlook the straits, the Allies this month carried out what may have been the most challenging operation of all: withdrawing from the peninsula without suffering the extreme casualties that many had predicted.  When Lord Kitchener returned to London, he found a cabinet struggling with the recommendation of the new commander, General Sir Charles Monro, endorsed by Kitchener before his departure, to evacuate Gallipoli and abandon the attempt to force the Dardanelles.  On December 7, a final decision was made to withdraw from Anzac Cove and Suvla Bay but to maintain the Allied position at Cape Helles in order to restrict the use of the straits by German U-boats.

Retreat in the presence of enemy forces is a difficult operation under the best of circumstances, and the Allies' circumstances at Gallipoli, with the sea at their backs, the Turks close at hand, and large quantities of troops, animals, supplies and equipment to load onto small craft within easy range of enemy artillery, made an Allied withdrawal an extremely risky operation.  Nevertheless the evacuation of Suvla and Anzac, which began on December 18, appears to have been an unqualified success, accomplished without any casualties and minimal loss of equipment and provisions.

General Townshend

British forces are also retreating in Mesopotamia.  After initial successes at Basra and Kut Al Amara, their further advance toward Baghdad was halted last month at Ctesiphon.  General Townshend, whose lines of supply and communication were over-extended, returned to Kut where Turkish forces have begun a siege.

General Haig

General Sir john French has been commander-in-chief of the British Expeditionary Force in France and Belgium since the war began.  He was subject to criticism for his conduct of military operations, especially the Battle of Loos in September, and was a central figure in the shell controversy earlier in the year.  On December 15 the government announced that French would be relieved of his command at his own request.  His replacement is General Sir Douglas Haig, commander of the British First Army.  French will be elevated to the peerage as a viscount and assigned to command British forces in the United Kingdom.

On December 1, in a rare bit of good news for the Allies, Italy agreed that it would not enter into a separate peace.


 

Secretary of State Lansing

Relations between Austria-Hungary and the United States hit a new low this month, but appeared to recover somewhat as the month ended.  The American State Department lodged a strong protest against the sinking of the S.S. Ancona last month by a surfaced submarine flying the Austrian flag.  Nine Americans died as the submarine captain not only failed to provide for the safety of the passengers before sinking the Ancona, as international law requires, but opened fire on passengers as they were abandoning ship.  The note, drafted by Secretary of State Lansing and dispatched on December 6, demanded a prompt disavowal, punishment of the submarine captain, and an indemnity.  It used stronger language ("inhumane," "barbarous," "outrage," "wanton slaughter") than any of the notes sent to Germany protesting the sinking of the Lusitania and Arabic.  Austria-Hungary's reply challenged the American note on virtually every assertion, asking for more information about the Americans on board, the names of witnesses and why their testimony should be more believable than that of the submarine commander; and challenged the United States to specify "the particular points of law" it relied on.

The United States responded with a second note, sent to Vienna on December 19.  It stated that the facts already known and admitted were "sufficient to fix upon the commander of the submarine which fired the torpedo the responsibility for having wilfully violated the recognized law of nations and entirely disregarded those humane principles which every belligerent should observe in the conduct of war at sea."  Accordingly, it said the United States "does not feel called upon to debate" the evidence or the principles involved, and renewed the demands made in the December 6 note.  When he handed the second note to Charge d'Affaires Baron Zwiedinek (in charge of the Austrian Embassy since Baron Dumba's expulsion in September), Lansing let it be known that the reply to the first note had made a bad impression.  His firm tone had the desired result.  Austria-Hungary's reply, forwarded to Washington on December 31, agreed to an indemnity and conceded that the incident is "from a humane standpoint, deeply to be regretted."  It said the submarine commander had been punished appropriately for not taking into consideration "the panic among the passengers, which rendered disembarkation more difficult."

S.S. Persia at Aden

As the Ancona crisis with Austria-Hungary was playing out, tensions between the United States and Germany have worsened.  On December 1 Secretary Lansing summoned Ambassador Bernstorff to the State Department and advised him that the German military and naval attaches, Franz von Papen and Karl Boy-Ed, were personae non gratae as a result of their involvement in espionage and sabotage activities, and thus no longer entitled to remain in the United States as members of the German diplomatic mission.  In the same meeting, Lansing expressed impatience with the lack of progress in resolving the Lusitania dispute.  By month's end, Bernstorff had received additional instructions from Berlin, and in a meeting with Lansing on December 31 Bernstorff, while repeating his government's denial of liability, offered to submit the matter to arbitration.  Whatever chance this might have had of moving the issue toward resolution was complicated by the sinking in the Mediterranean on December 30 of the British passenger liner S.S. Persia.  Two Americans, including the American consul in Aden, lost their lives.

H.M.S, Natal

Another maritime disaster took place on December 30, this one apparently not the result of enemy action.  An ammunition explosion aboard the British armored cruiser H.M.S. Natal in Cromarty Firth, near Inverness on the North Sea coast of Scotland, destroyed the ship and killed 304 sailors and civilians.

President Wilson Delivering the State of the Union Address

As required by Article I, Section 4 of the United States Constitution, the 64th Congress convened on the first Monday in December.  The next day, December 7, President Wilson delivered his annual State of the Union address.  The joint session was presided over by House Speaker Champ Clark and the President pro Tempore of the Senate, Senator James P. Clarke of Arkansas.  The President outlined his program of increases in the nation's military and naval forces, including a proposed increase in the standing army to 140,000 men with a reserve force of 400,000.  In foreign affairs, he advocated a policy of "pan-Americanism," reaffirming the Monroe Doctrine and stating that "all the governments of America stand, as far as we are concerned, upon a footing of genuine equality and unquestioned independence."  Most of the president's pronouncements were met with silence (military spending) or restrained ripples of applause ("pan-Americanism"), but there were some exceptions.  Vigorous applause greeted his statement that he was opposed to the issuance of bonds to overcome a deficit in the Treasury, saying the people of the United States did not believe in postponing the payment of their bills.  The most enthusiastic response came when he warned against disloyal Americans, denouncing foreign-born citizens who have "plotted to destroy our industries," "conspired against our neutrality," and "poured the poison of disloyalty into the very arteries of our national life."  He urged that "such creatures of passion, disloyalty and anarchy must be crushed out."

Prior to the opening of Congress, Senate Democrats met to consider a change in the rules to set limits on debate.  At present there is no mechanism for bringing debate to a close, so as long as a senator or senators keep the floor they can continue to speak and prevent a vote on any measure under consideration.  The proposal was voted down, 40-3.

In his annual report to Congress on December 8, Treasury Secretary McAdoo recommended increasing the recently enacted tax on incomes and suggested possible new forms of federal taxation.

Both major political parties decided this month on the time and place of their 1916 nominating conventions.  On December 7 the Democratic National Committee announced that the Democratic Convention will be held in St. Louis beginning June 14, and on December 14 the Republican National Committee announced that its convention will begin in Chicago on June 7.

 President and Mrs. Wilson

President Wilson and Mrs. Edith Bolling Galt, whose engagement was announced in October, were married December 18 in a quiet ceremony at her home on Twentieth Street in Washington.  After a buffet supper, they departed in an unmarked limousine for Alexandria, Virginia, where they boarded a private car attached to a special Chesapeake & Ohio train.  They arrived the next morning at Hot Springs, Virginia, where they are staying in a suite at the Homestead Hotel. 

Henry Ford Aboard the Peace Ship

On December 4 the Oscar II got under way from Hoboken, New Jersey, on its mission to bring peace to war-torn Europe.  The expedition was organized and promoted by automobile manufacturer Henry Ford.  Other peace activists, including William Jennings Bryan, Thomas Edison and Jane Addams, were invited to join the trip, but declined. As the Oscar II departed, former President Theodore Roosevelt called its mission "a most discreditable thing to the country," saying it was not “mischievous” only because it is “so ridiculous.”  Most American newspapers seem to agree, calling the trip "Ford's Folly" and "much adieu about nothing."  Ford left the ship on Christmas Eve in Christiana, Norway, without having made any discernible progress toward ending the war. 

Wilson and House

The president has sent Colonel House on another journey to Europe.  House left New York aboard a Dutch liner on December 28.  Before he left, he paid visits to Ambassadors Spring Rice and Bernstorff, advising them that the purpose of his trip was simply to brief ambassadors in London, Paris, Berlin and perhaps Rome.  In his report to the president before his departure, House asked for instructions and  personal messages to be relayed to the men he will meet.  In a reply written on Christmas Eve in Hot Springs, Wilson replied, "You ask for instructions as to what attitude and tone you are to take at the several capitals.  I feel that you do not need any.  Your own letters (for example, the one in which you report your conversation with Bernstorff) exactly echo my own views and purposes."

U.S.S. Ohio (BB-12) Transiting the Canal in July

The Panama Pacific Exposition in San Francisco, celebrating the opening of the Panama Canal last year, closed on December 4.  The Canal itself was closed in October due to landslides in the Gaillard Cut.  On December 19 it was reopened for light draft vessels only.

Chancellor Bethmann-Hollweg

Chancellor Theobald von Bethmann-Hollweg of Germany addressed the Reichstag on December 9, replying to an inquiry from the majority Socialist Party regarding the prospects for peace.  He called attention to the recent success of the German military and the country's sound economic position, and argued that Germany could not make a peace proposal without indicating weakness.  He said that Germany was always ready to consider any peace proposals from the Entente powers that are "consistent with Germany's dignity and safety."

Yuan Shih-Kai

Yuan Shih-Kai has been president of the Chinese Republic for the last two years.  Last month the Council of State voted to change the form of government to a monarchy and asked Yuan Shih-Kai to assume the imperial crown.  On December 11 it was announced that he had decided to accept.  The announcement came as a surprise, since other powers including Japan, Great Britain and Russia had objected to the proposed change in China's form of government as prejudicial to their common interests and Yuan Shih-Kai himself had advised against the change.

December 1915 – Selected Sources and Recommended Reading

Contemporary Periodicals:

American Review of Reviews, January and February 1916

New York Times, December 1915

Books and Articles:

A. Scott Berg, Wilson
Howard Blum, Dark Invasion 1915: Germany's Secret War and the Hunt for the First Terrorist Cell in America

Britain at War Magazine, The Second Year of the Great War: 1915
Winston S. Churchill, The World Crisis 1911-1918
John Milton Cooper, Jr., Woodrow Wilson: A Biography
John Milton Cooper, Jr., The Warrior and the Priest: Woodrow Wilson and Theodore Roosevelt

Patrick Devlin, Too Proud to Fight: Woodrow Wilson's Neutrality

M. Ryan Floyd, Abandoning American Neutrality: Woodrow Wilson and the Beginning of the Great War, August 1914-December 1915

David Fromkin, A Peace to End All Peace: Creating the Modern Middle East, 1914-1922
Martin Gilbert, The First World War: A Complete History

Martin Gilbert, A History of the Twentieth Century, Volume One: 1900-1933
Martin Gilbert, Winston S. Churchill Volume III: The Challenge of War, 1914-1916

Richard F. Hamilton and Holger H. Herwig, Decisions for War, 1914-1917

Peter Hart, Gallipoli

August Heckscher, Woodrow Wilson: A Biography

Godfrey Hodgson, Woodrow Wilson's Right Hand: The Life of Colonel Edward M. House
John Keegan, The First World War
Nicholas A. Lambert, Planning Armageddon: British Economic Warfare and the First World War

Arthur S. Link, Wilson: The Struggle for Neutrality, 1914-1915

Arthur S. Link, Woodrow Wilson and the Progressive Era, 1910-1917

G.J. Meyer, A World Undone: The Story of the Great War, 1914 to 1918

J. Lee Thompson, Never Call Retreat: Theodore Roosevelt and the Great War

Barbara W. Tuchman, The Zimmermann Telegram   
Geoffrey C. Ward and Ken Burns, The Roosevelts: An Intimate History